I'm back,

Finally got my third story up sorry to those who were waiting, I had to re-read a bit and than write which funnily I did find quite hard for this one...The second chapter to.

But did it and even better, I finally had help for my story, yay...

So I want to say a really big thank you to McGonagall's Bola for helping me with this, with luck this third installment won't be so woefully littered with mistakes as I will admit to having in the last two.

And to the guest who left a comment on the last story...Get over it. If you don't like it you know what to do, really doesn't bother me.

Anyhoo on with the chapter and I hope you all enjoy, :)

I own nothing of Harry Potter and never will.

It had been a few hours since everyone had left the school before Minerva and Hermione departed the ancient castle. Having said their goodbyes to the rest of the teachers, they made their way through the fire network and back to their home as they emerged from the flames and into the familiar room of the lounge. Minerva smiled upon setting foot back into her territory, and breathing in what could only be classed as a mixture of sandalwood and something that made it distinctly...Home.

The sound of a struggle had her looking back as Hermione followed behind in the middle of what seemed like a tussle with the humongous orange fur ball that was mewing and holding on to her shirt with the tightest of grips as she carried him through the harmless flames. She smiled as the younger girl winced with every step she took as Crookshanks held on with a fury that could only have matched the expression on his very unhappy face.

She chuckled when Hermione trudged over to the sofa and gingerly pulled the cat, leaving her shirt a bit threadbare before plonking him down on the long couch and rolling her shoulder, and wincing once more as he jumped from his seat and with a parting glance at them both, sauntered out the room with his tail held high, leaving Minerva amused and Hermione cursing him with every paw step he took.

"Well, I take it he's glad to be back," she surmised on turning to look at the scowling girl who merely hummed her agreement before reaching up to rub at the indents left in her skin by his claws before shaking her head, bending to pick up the bag she had dropped while fighting with the fat monster. Sighing, she turned and faced the other woman before holding up her bags.

"Going to go and...you know." Minerva rolled her eyes and nodded, watching as she made her way out of the room before deciding to go and do the same. She followed her out but not before coming to another stop when a small crack sounded and in front of her stood a tiny elf who had an over-joyous expression plastered on her face, ears waggling happily as she looked up at the taller woman, excited that the family had returned for the holidays.

"Mistress, Patches is happy to see you, yes, she is." She squealed as the older woman gave the pint-sized creature a welcoming smile. "Thank you, Patches, it's good to be home." They spoke for a few more minutes before the smaller elf gave her a tiny nod and disappeared to go and get her and Hermione, who would be in for a surprise, a cup of tea as Minerva made her way to the stairs as she reached her bedroom.

Opening the door, she smiled at the silence of the empty space as the rush of cold air hit her, but she didn't mind as it was her own space, her own private area in which she could just be herself as she placed her bag on the surface of the desk near the window just as Patches returned, tea in hand as she pads her way over and lifted the cup to her.

"For Mistress,"

Minerva turned and gratefully took the cup from her as she gave another small nod before moving to the room two doors away as a small shriek rang out signalling that she had given the younger girl a fright much to her amusement as she took the first sip and closed her eyes as a small, contented groan escaped her and she made her way to her bed sitting down.

To say that the second year had taken it out of her was saying something. In fact, she was still getting over the events of the night before the feast. She still found it hard to see the younger girl as she had with blood oozing from her head wound, fighting to stand upright all the while holding on to the teacher they had thought long gone only to be told they had coerced him into going with them

She didn't need to know that wasn't the case. For she knew just how charming Hermione could be when she put her mind to it, and up against a man as self glorified as Lockhart she knew that he wouldn't have stood a chance but to find him knocked out only to wake and find that he had all but blown his mind apart was something of a shock but at least it showed him for the charlatan he was.

And if anything good came from it, she did get a good show of pointing it out to Albus when he did return.

But it was still so unreal to picture them standing there like they had, only to tell them that not only had they figured out what the monster was but they had also slain it as well ensuring that it would no longer be able to harm anymore students.

But they had and she was still finding it all hard to take in two days later. Sighing she closed her eyes as she remembered the look's at the end of year feast. How proud she had been when they both got awards for the risk they took…it didn't hurt that they helped secure the house cup for the second year in a row. That she had enjoyed rubbing in Severus's face. The Potions man sat irate and just as angry as his house for the rest of the night after that.

But she also couldn't stop the darker thoughts on lying in bed that night the duplicitous words that came to her snaking in and around her mind like inky poison. One's she were ashamed to admit. Made her stop and think

Hermione had said that it was she who had made the discovery, that she was the one to work out what the creature lurking in the chamber was and as she had no doubt just how intelligent her daughter was as she had, for the second year running. Come top in all her classes once more

But what got her, what had stuck in her mind and gripped it like a barb vice was just how she had made her discovery. How had she worked out the monster was a giant snake. For almost half a century they had looked. Teachers, people from the Ministry even magical creature experts alike had all come to the school in the hopes of finding and taming the beast so that the horrendous death of Myrtle should never be repeated.

But they had no hope. Not even Dumbledore could find the legendary chamber and if someone like him failed what chances were the rest of them going to have. The only person to have ever opened the chamber was Voldemort himself when he was a student and he had taken its location with him to the deepest depths of wherever he was, only to come back in the form of a possessed Ginny to do it once more.

When he left it had remained shut up until that year…With him being the only person to do so as he was at first the only heir of Salazar who could do so.

At first

But then Hermione came along. And whilst she had no idea just how illustrious and dastardly her bloodline truly was, also wasn't as sweet as she seemed to be as she had seen from the tiny snippets in school it was on those times she had to wonder if Hermione knew more than she was supposed to and it scared her into watching her like a hawk, but if the younger girl knew she didn't show it which made her both worried and even more nervous.

It also didn't help that she happened to be the second heir, well, heiress of the snake founder and the only one at the school; it was that which had garnered her niggling thought's in the first place. Harry was an unexpected shock one which none anticipated, which only made them more suspicious, creating paranoia and at times hostile atmospheres but if she hadn't of already known who Lily and James were when she had taught them than she might have suspected him herself.

The final thought in the proverbial coffin was when that said heiress just happened to be the one to have made the discovery and had found the answer to the problem eluding them all; already having blown her secret at being able to communicate and talk to snakes was just one piece of a terrifying puzzle she was putting together bit by bit.

It wasn't too much of a coincidence that a snake lover who was a founding member, just happened to have left as a parting gift. A god fearing fifty foot Basilisk. More of an unlucky accident but the chances of the first Heir to have opened it at one time in his life, only to open it again and then have his offspring go work out the puzzle was something a little more than bad happenstance in her eyes, too much like Divination something of which she hated.

It wasn't like Hermione knew Voldemort was her father but at having heard everything the younger girl told her, she couldn't stop the thought's from emerging sitting firmly in her head that night and she loathed herself for it the next day, ashamed that she was having such things taking over and swaying her opinion when it should never have wavered, she knew Hermione was innocent and it was probably when they revealed they had killed the creature she stopped thinking and started feeling as bad and as guilty as she did.

Hermione wasn't him Dumbledore had told her as such and she trusted his word over those around her, yet she still joined the majority of the school even if it was for less than twenty-four hours.

She felt like she had wronged her daughter somehow which was why it was she had felt inclined to be so nearer to her the past two days, to try to make up for her accusing thought's even if Hermione had no idea on what she was thinking.

Voldemort would have done all he could to have kept his pet. To save it so if he could manage a third time in some other unsuspecting, poor individual, he could call on it once more and have it do his bidding. Hermione on the other hand had done all she could to help Harry, in his rescue of Ginny and of getting rid of her tormentor, if that didn't scream different from she really needed to learn the meaning.

She mentally shouted at herself for the remainder of the week and so she was more than glad to be home away from the place until the next year where hopefully, with any luck. It would be what she had wanted since Hermione first got her letter. A normal and drama free year, finishing the last of her tea she placed the cup on the side and got busy in unpacking her bags willing away all the tension that the previous week.

If she had known what was going to be awaiting her on saying those words she might have taken Sybil up on those offers of tarot reading as she would have been better prepared.

Two doors down Hermione had also been finishing her tea on getting over her fright at having been presented so suddenly with the beverage when Patches appeared unannounced and scared her, she waved off the countless apologies and threats of tears before finally getting rid of the family elf who smiled before saying how much she missed her in the form of a hug before leaving once more just as quick as she came.

Having finished tidying her clothes and putting them away she took a few second to breathe in and look around the room she had missed for near enough a year, smiling she threw herself on her bed and immersed herself in the blanket before lying on her back to look at the ceiling.

A lot of things had happened that year things that had her thinking. It had baffled her as to how they could not notice something as mountainous as a fifty foot snake working its way through the halls even though it had used the piping system she still couldn't get how they did not work it out. Maybe if they had just done more in-depth research the mystery would have solved quicker.

And those boys said reading wouldn't amount to nothing. Well don't they just feel stupid.

But it wasn't even the thrill she got of having worked it out practically all by herself, it was all very well and good at having someone like Harry to do the muscle work but when it came down to it they both knew that knowledge is what really counted and not to make light of his intelligence, but he was no her.

Now the whole thing had gone and left her with questions she could not find answers for. More that had been left unfinished and it annoyed her, it was like trading in one big puzzle for lots of smaller yet just as irritating ones and that just would not do

She knew that she had plenty of time to try to work it all out but now she just found she wanted to get back to the school she figured that there at least she had a starting point in the form of one big Basilisk. With her and Harry being the only ones who knew it still lived, she didn't count Ginny as she knew that the smaller girl wouldn't say a thing. Tom Riddle had successfully scared her off all things snake-like and so she was certain she would keep her mouth shut.

So it was just them and while she was glad they had saved an innocent creature from death as she really didn't think it was guilty of doing what it had been clearly ordered, if anything all of this was on that charming git who was now happily gone. She was also glad because that creature had answers. One's that would have been lost if she had let Harry kill it so it worked out both for the two of them in the long run really.

It got to breathe another day and sometime in the future she would get her answers.

She made a mental note to make a list of all that had pestered her at a later date. But for now she could just relax and momentarily let go all that had bothered her, she was home. Free from snarky man bats and their little charges in the form of blonde ferrets and pretty much everyone else who had irked her the past year.

Which was near enough everyone

It had both amused and infuriated her that the rest of the school had deemed them guilty and had so viciously tried to ostracize them. It might have worked on Harry as he always was a bit emotional when it came to matters of the student population and what they thought of him, no matter how much he tried to deny it she on the other hand had no such cares as she had no time for them…the more they left her alone the better she was to work on what was really important.

Learning

It really was painful at just what she had witnessed in lessons and many a time it had nearly brought her tears watching such pitiful performances. From Neville to Seamus to Draco and Ron three of those came from pure-blooded families and all of them woefully inadequate. Ron and Neville she expected as much as not even the teachers had high hopes for him but from the silver-haired ferret boy she had hoped at least for a challenge.

After all from what his bigger ferret of a father had said, it was nice to have healthy competition….she had yet to see it.

It made her laugh to see that he had once more come in second out of their year, not that she had doubts no one else could beat him, not to give him any credit when it came to his own intelligence but from the pickings they had in their year even Hagrid might have given them a run for their money so it was any little wonder the Slytherin git had them beat.

But that was them he still had no chance of ever besting her.

And now she had pretty much two whole months of studying she could do. Two entire months free, of any interruptions be it from insipid time wasters to the drama that seemed to follow them around, and she didn't plan on wasting it. She had already, taken a look at third years spells last year, mastered them even. Now she was moving on to fourth year and maybe a little higher if she did them well.

She also had a lot of reading to catch up on and she was going to make a start on it first thing in the morning. But for now she was going to follow the advice which was to have a nap, moving up to her pillow she flopped down on it and closed her eyes, she would also go visit Addie. It had been too long since she had seen her other reptilian friend and was in serious need of a catch up, he may say that it was him humoring her but she knew otherwise.

Besides not even something as eremite as he would be able to resist the story she had to tell.

Hope everyone enjoyed, any comment's always welcome and greatly appreciated. :D